Chechens accuse Russian troops

Rebel Chechen leaders have accused Russian forces of indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

The press service of the rebel leader, Aslan Maskhadov said in a statement that Russian troops had tried to provoke the Chechen population into armed resistance by arresting innocent people, robbing impoverished villages and conducting search raids on the slightest pretext. The statement said that in one incident, Russian soldiers burned seven houses and arrested seventeen local people after a Russian vehicle was blown up by a land mine. Earlier this year, the London-based human rights organisation, Amnesty International, accused Russian troops of torture and rape in Chechnya.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service